


tutoring was my matchmaker

by Nightingale231



Series: TMR Newtmas Fun [5]
Category: The Maze Runner (Movies), The Maze Runner Series - All Media Types, The Maze Runner Series - James Dashner
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, M/M, Multi, Pining, Sanders Sides References, Tutoring, established minewt, thomas is pining for them both, tw for mild homophobia
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-15
Updated: 2020-12-15
Packaged: 2021-03-11 02:47:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,033
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28057911
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nightingale231/pseuds/Nightingale231
Summary: TW:  Mild homophobia, slurs. Neither are ruminated on and both are a minor part of the story.
Relationships: Minho/Newt (Maze Runner), Minho/Thomas (Maze Runner), Newt/Thomas (Maze Runner)
Series: TMR Newtmas Fun [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1572730
Comments: 2
Kudos: 12
Collections: Maze Runner Secret Santa 2020





	tutoring was my matchmaker

**Author's Note:**

  * For [japjib21](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=japjib21).



> TW: Mild homophobia, slurs. Neither are ruminated on and both are a minor part of the story.

Title: tutoring was my matchmaker  
Gifter: nightingale231  
Giftee: japjib21  
Ratings: No Warnings Apply

Thomas looked up, pushing his glasses up his nose. Across the hall, he saw-

Of course. The kings of the school. Samuel “Newt” Durnham and Minho Kim were right. fucking. There. Sigh.

The brunet shook off the gloom that had settled over him and made his way to Biology and Earth Sciences, taught by the absolute devil.

As well as teaching Bio and Earth Sciences, Ms. Paige was married to the other devil of Aredian Runner High School.

Assistant Principal Eric Janson, hated by literally everyone and their fucking mothers. (Literally. He’d had a crush on Thomas’ mom, so obviously Thomas disliked him. Also, of course, the inconvenient relation.)

At least those two were in his class, and he sat in the back. He knew all the material anyway, so it wasn’t like it was much of a loss to stare at the backs of their heads for the whole period.

Thomas took his seat at the back of the classroom and looked up.

POP QUIZ EVERYONE!

Ugh. Fuck life, honestly. He hadn’t even had breakfast. Thomas pulled a breakfast bar and his still-hot coffee thermos out of his backpack and took a bite after dunking it in his coffee.

He heard a disgusted noise from the front.

“Why would you do that, Thomas?”

“I’m hungry, Aunt Ava!”

Did he forget to mention that Ava and Janson were his aunt and uncle. And he hated them both.

After a very grueling pop-quiz, math test, and reading pretty much the whole hour in English, Thomas went to lunch.

Or more specifically, the library.

“Hey!” Thomas called to the librarian, who waved back, purple pronoun bracelet flashing in the light. They made their way around to the shorter brunet, grabbing his usual reads before shoving the books into Thomas’ hands and shooing him to the corner. They walked to their desk, exchanging their bracelet for a pink one and scanning some books in.  
AFTER SCHOOL

“Thomas! Thank god you’re still here!” Ms Prince called to him, heels clicking as she walked down the hallway. Thomas looked at his math teacher, closing his locker. “I need a favor!”

“Anything for my favorite math teacher,” he said jokingly, smiling when she let her lips upturn.

“I need you to tutor two of my students; they’re on the track team and they’re struggling with quite a few of the concepts.”

“Who?”

“Samuel and Minho.”

The world spun to a grounding, shattering halt.

“Of course, I’d understand if you have too many commitments or don’t want to, it’s just that you understand my class really well and I've seen you helping a few other kids out.”

“I’ll do it.” His mouth moved without his permission, shaping the words that would bring his doom.

He shot a text to his mom to explain that he’d be late home; he had some things to take care of first. Namely, finding his tutorees and setting up a schedule.

He found them in the janitor’s closet on the second floor. (The moans were a dead giveaway. He had fantasized about being in between them before.)

Thomas explained and gave them his number, trying not to stare at the very prominent bruises decorating their necks and shoulders(and one suspiciously prominent one on Minho’s hip?)

He walked into Starbucks and ordered his usual, getting a smirk from his favorite barista. Remy rang him up and told him to grab a seat.

They sat down across him in the corner a few minutes later, rearranging their skirt and examining the reappearing blush on his face.

“Girl, spill!.”

“I have to tutor Them.” he said, sipping his mocha caramel. (Yes, the capital in Them is required. Shut up.)  
“... Well that sucks a dick.”

Thomas snorted at his friend’s crass words.

“I mean, yeah.” He took a deep breath. “Ms Prince asked me to tutor Them in math, ‘cause apparently They’re on the verge of failing and getting tossed off the track team.”

Remy sat up, flipping their hair out of their face.

“Remy! Get back in here!” A voice called from the kitchen.

“F you, Kath! I’m coming!” they screeched back. “Sorry Tomboy. Duty calls. Buh-bye.”

Thomas waved to his best friend, who slid over the counter and into the back area, and opened his laptop, quickly turning assignments in and then drafting a plan for the tutor session. (Some of them may have been due in a month, but whatever.)

He packed up when Remy shooed him out, walking home quickly but quietly. He let himself into the house and walked upstairs. Thankfully, his emancipation let him live alone, and his inheritance paid for the house.

And his aunt and uncle didn’t have a key.

That was a bonus.

The next day, after school, Thomas met Them in the library.

“H-Hey, guys!”

“Hey, Thomas.”

“‘Sup, nerd?”

Thomas took mild offense to that.

“First off, I remember both of you in middle school. You were bigger nerds than I am. Second, like Newt said, my name is Thomas.”

“Okay, Thomas,” Minho said, rolling his eyes.

“So, what are some things you guys are struggling on?”

“Graphing and derivatives.” They spoke at the same time.

His strong point, luckily!

“So, basically, derivatives are the slope at a particular point.” Thomas opened his book and started explaining, answering their questions and letting the numbers soothe his anxieties.

The silence lasted a moment too long and Thomas’ phone blared MCR’s I’m Not Okay (I Promise) and he answered it nervously.

“Where are you?!” His brother’s anxious voice nearly screeched. “I’m here for one. Fucking. Weekend and I have no idea where you are! Thomas.”

“V, I’m fine!” He assured. “Just.. I’m tutoring for some extra credit.”

“Be home soon, please.”

“An hour, tops. Love you, V.”

“Love you too, you gremlin.”

He caught a glimpse of confusion.

“My brother. He’s in college and I completely forgot he’s visiting this weekend. I’m gonna go now. You guys have my number in case you have questions.”

With that, he made a hurried exit.

“What was that about?!” Minho turned to his boyfriend, frowning.

“Dunno, Min. I wanted to ask him soon.” Newt said with a frown.

“I should get going too, love. My mom’s gonna be home soon.”

“Bye.” The Korean left with a goodbye kiss.

Newt finished off his problems and left the library with a sigh, completely unaware that a few miles away, a certain ecstatic brunet was screaming into his pillow.

Thomas finished his homework hours later.

ONE MONTH LATER

Look, Thomas has always known that they’re unreachable, and all he can do is watch from across the hallway, separated by rows of students and rungs of popularity. He was fine with pining from afar.

And now, well.

They hang out twice a week, go out on not-dates to Taco Bell and Olive Garden, and fuck if he hasn’t fallen hard and fast for the blond.

There were quite a few problems with that.

One, Newt has a boyfriend.  
Two, Thomas has a raging hard on for them both.  
Three, Minho is very clearly not interested in him.  
Four, the above were true before Ms Prince, and they were true after.

Because one night, after his parents had gone to sleep, Thomas and Minho and Newt had gotten blackout drunk and talked, and he had no idea what he’d confessed. He’d looked at Minho and Newt, tangled together (dark caramel on top of white chocolate, and he wants. He wants to be in the middle of that sandwich, wants to suck a mark into their lines, but he can’t.)

“-mas! Thomas!” V said, waving his hand in front of Thomas’ face.

“Yeah, V?”

“Dinner’s ready in thirty. You wanna invite your boyfriends?” V smirked at Thomas’ strawberry-red face.

At the tell-tale ring of Strawberry Blond, V smirked a bit wider, wiggled his eyebrows, and darted out and downstairs.

“H-Hey, Newt!”

“Hey, Tommy.”

“You and Minho wanna come over for dinner? Bring a pair of clothes and stay overnight maybe?”

“I’ll ask Minho. We’ll be there in twenty.”

When they got there, Thomas had to excuse himself to the bathroom and gay panic for a good five minutes. (Newt had on a white, form-fitting shirt and jeans with a black leather jacket to guard against the cold. Minho wore a teal blue collared shirt and jeans that left nothing to the imagination.)

V had betrayed him and left three minutes into Thomas’ bathroom panic. His brother was an asshole and would be getting an earful when he got back from sucking Roman’s face off.

After calming down, Thomas changed into a light blue shirt (long sleeves because he was cold) and black sweats, missing the way Newt’s eyes lingered on his collarbone. Minho nudged his boyfriend, who quickly rearranged his limbs and raised an eyebrow. At Minho’s nod, he raised ten fingers, then dropped all but two. Another small nod had the blonde’s face smirking quickly.

After Thomas had pulled up his Netflix and switched on the Umbrella Academy. He dropped carefully between the other two with a tray of pasta, which he handed off to them before digging in. Twenty minutes in, just as Allison and Luther were talking in their dad’s office, Thomas rinsed their bowls off and when he sat back down-

Newt pulled him into his lap and Thomas-

“I’m sorry but what is happening?”

* * *

TWO YEARS LATER

“That’s the last of it,” Minho sighed as he and Thomas plopped onto the newly-built sofa. “Thank god.”

“Don’t thank Her, she’s a bitch,” Thomas said. “Thank, like, my brother.”

“What did V do?” Newt walked in, passing the brunets water bottles and sitting between them gracefully.

“He left me alone and I gay panicked in the bathroom.”

Minho choked.

“When was this exactly?”

“..The night you two asked me out.” Thomas answered, confused, as Newt hammered on Minho back.

“...You’re telling me that I  _ didn’t  _ imagine him slipping me a condom before he left?”

“He did  _ what?! _ ” Thomas was cherry-red and couldn’t help the voice crack. “Oh my  _ god. _ ”

“I thought that was planned.” Minho shook his head. “Why.”

“Please,” Thomas managed to push away his embarrassment enough to snort. “I’m  _ way _ too much of a disaster bi to be  _ that _ fucking suave.”

“Well, as much as this was an invigorating conversation.” Thomas rolled his eyes. “I’m gonna go and grab a snack. Cookies, maybe?” he cocked his head before walking off. Minho and Newt exchanged a look before darting off the couch and following him.

When they woke the next morning, the spot between them was empty. There was light singing from the kitchen and a smell wafting from it.

Thomas, for his part, was an excellent cook. His brother taught him while they were growing up, and they’d always sing old Spanish songs and dance around the kitchen.

“ _ La cucaracha, la cucaracha! Porque la falta, porque la falta!”  _ He lifted the eggs and bacon off the heat and lowered them to the plate.

When Minho and Newt walked in, their boyfriend was jamming out to  _ La Cucaracha _ and it was the cutest thing.

At their chuckles, Thomas whirled around, his happy singing cutting off with a choke.

“You’re bloody adorable, Tommy,” Newt said, moving forward to embrace him.

“Agreed,” Minho took a bite. “An amazing cook, too.”

“Perfection.”

“Thanks,” he leaned into their embrace. “Can we take a walk in a few minutes?”

“Sure.” They spoke in surprised unison.

After they’d bundled up and begun exploring WiCKeD University, hand in hand with Thomas in the middle, someone called to them.

“Oh, hey!” Rachel Agnes. “Look, guys, there’s a couple’a fags over there!”

“ _ No, Minho,” _ Newt said, grabbing onto his boyfriend. “Do  _ not  _ interact.”

They moved on, because giving people like that a thought was giving them too much credit.

Even if Minho was simmering with rage.

When they got back to their apartment and Minho had calmed down after sprinting laps around the track, they sat down with Indian takeout and watched Teen Wolf.

  
And when they collapsed sweating, cuddled together, Thomas knew that this was where he wanted to be.


End file.
